If you’re considering selling your current home and moving to a new place, or if you’re looking for things to do with your kids or the whole family, we’ve found the top four HDB towns that are home to some of the best parks and swimming complexes, as well as other amenities you can enjoy while in the area.
Remember to check the valuation of your home before putting it up on the market and moving to any of the towns listed below!
Here Are Our Top 4 HDB Towns with Family-friendly Amenities
1. Sengkang
Lifestyle: The Sengkang Community Hub has a whole line-up of facilities — The Sengkang Central Constituency Office, a Singapore Post, and the Sengkang Neighbourhood Police Post, among other healthcare and sports facilities.
Meanwhile, Sengkang Sports Centre has established itself as a world-class venue for hockey, with considerable upgrades made for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. The centre has an indoor sports hall with 12 badminton/volleyball courts and a synthetic soccer field. Other provisions include a multimedia room, a tea arts room, playrooms, a large multi-purpose hall, a reading and study area, a roof terrace, and retail spaces like a riverfront café and eateries.
Shopping: Seletar Mall offers six levels of conveniences, including F&B outlets, clinics, pharmacies, hair and beauty services, a supermarket, enrichment centres, and even a cinema, Shaw Theatres.
Significantly smaller, there’s also the Rivervale Mall with more budget-friendly amenities and a heartland vibe.
Compass One, the largest among the three, was built with the Compass Heights condominium as an integrated development and offers a plenitude of retail, lifestyle, and F&B options.
Sengkang Riverside Park
Nature: Sengkang Sculpture Park is full of curious sculptures. The quirkiness of this place adds character to the neighbourhood.
For a tranquil walk amidst lush greenery, check out Sengkang Riverside Park, which sits by a river stretching over 3 km.
Transportation: Sengkang is the third stop from the end of the North East Line and connects to six MRT interchanges. Internally, it is serviced by LRT systems and two bus interchanges – Sengkang Bus and Compassvale Bus. Drivers will also appreciate the accessibility provided by the Tampines Expressway.
Schools: There are 12 primary schools and six secondary schools in Sengkang, with plans for a junior college to meet future educational demand in the North-East Region.
Healthcare: Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) and Sengkang Community Hospital can be found on opposite sides of the Cheng Lin LRT; meanwhile, the Sengkang Polyclinic is housed within the Sengkang Community Hub.
Claim to Fame: Sengkang Swimming Complex
The 8 huge and colourful slides at Sengkang Swimming Complex | Image Source: MyActiveSG
Offering a splashing good time for the entire family, the most eye-catching feature of this swimming complex is its eight huge slides. From straight, open slides that offer an exciting ride to twisting tubular ones that snake their way down, the slides have a minimum height limit of 1.2m, catering to older kids, teens, or even thrill-seeking adults.
These slides and water features are kid-friendly. | Image Source: MyActiveSG
There is also a fun pool for the little ones with tot-friendly slides, a jacuzzi pool, a sheltered pool, and an Olympic-sized competition pool. So, if you want to be closer to amenities your kids will enjoy, or give you and the family something to do over the weekend, this place is for you.
2. Yishun
Lifestyle: The Orchid Country Club, which has a paintball and bowling alley, also houses sports facilities like a gym, a swimming pool, a golf driving range, and tennis courts.
The HomeTeamNS Khatib has a wide range of amenities, like its Indoor Obstacle Course Hub, a gym, pools, an indoor playground, a karaoke centre, and a bowling alley. There are various F&B outlets in the clubhouse, too.
Shopping: Set beside Yishun MRT station, Northpoint City is the largest shopping mall in the north with various zones and an extensive assortment of stores, services, and facilities. It houses the Yishun Community Library, and is the first mall in Singapore to include an Integrated Transport Hub, the North Park Residences condo, a connection to Yishun MRT station, and the Nee Soon Central Community Club. Northpoint City’s expansion brought the number of shops and restaurants to 500.
Junction Nine and Nine Residences make up the first mixed development in Yishun. A seven-minute walk from Yishun MRT station, Sheng Shiong Supermarket is one of its anchor tenants.
Meanwhile, Wisteria Mall, the only heartland mall in the south of Yishun, has Fairprice Finest supermarket and Kopitiam food court as its anchor tenants, among many other retail stores.
Northpoint City is a maze of wonders and pleasant surprises, but it may be more confusing than iON
Nature: Yishun Park spans 13 hectares and is covered with verdant greenery. Part of this land was developed into the SAFRA Yishun Country Club. The smaller 3-hectare Lower Seletar Reservoir Park borders the northern edge of the reservoir. There are plans to open up the reservoir to more water sports. The reservoir currently sees the occasional dragon boat competition, with a small water sports rental facility.
Khatib Bongsu Nature Park was initially an old Kampong estate. In 2020, it was announced that Khatib Bongsu Nature Park will be transformed into the main nature park covering 40 hectares and may open by 2026 as part of government efforts to revitalise Singapore’s biodiversity.
There’s also the Yishun Pond Park that’s perfect for morning and evening strolls.
Transportation: The Yishun Integrated Transport Hub (ITH) provides direct connectivity and convenient transfers between the air-conditioned bus interchange, Yishun MRT Station, and Northpoint City. An inclusive public transport system, Yishun ITH is fully barrier-free, with dedicated boarding points at each berth and graduated kerb edges to facilitate boarding by passengers in wheelchairs.
Ahoy, matey! Channel your inner pirate at Yishun SAFRA without any of the looting.
Schools: Yishun has 10 primary schools, nine secondary schools, a junior college, and an international school.
Healthcare: Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), the new general hospital, was named so after receiving a $125 million donation from the late Mr Khoo’s family. Spanning over 3.5 hectares in the Yishun Central Area, the 795-bed general and acute care hospital is managed by Alexandra Health System. KTPH offers comprehensive medical services and specialist care.
Yishun Polyclinic is located opposite Nee Soon East Community Club and serves the Yishun community, among other private clinics at void decks.
Yishun also has the Yishun Community Hospital (YCH), which provides sub-acute, rehabilitative, dementia, and palliative care for patients. YCH receives post-surgical, post-stroke patients and patients recovering from medical illnesses or trauma from the neighbouring KTPH, as well as other acute hospitals and nursing homes.
Claim to Fame: Yishun SAFRA, besides its surfeit of amenities, indoor and outdoor activities, barbecue pits, restaurants, function rooms, and a slots machine room, now features Dinoland, Singapore’s largest indoor live forest with Dinosaurs, where you can go on a 1.5-hour guided trek around the fully air-conditioned indoor forest with life-size dinosaurs.
Schematic map of the Dinoland in an HDB town
3. Jurong East
Jurong East and the Jurong area in general are envisioned to be the country’s second central business district (CBD) as part of the Jurong Lake District project. There are plans to develop a new integrated Tourism Development in Jurong Lake District.
Lifestyle: Jurong East Sports Centre is the first one-stop integrated centre. Its vast swimming complex is the West’s answer to Downtown East’s Wild Wild Wet, but at heartland prices. It was, in fact, the first one to have a lazy river, wave pool, and huge multi-storey slides. However, note that the swimming complex will be closed until the end of 2025 for redevelopment.
Other facilities include an air-conditioned sports hall, stadium, and a comprehensive fitness gym.
Aside from being home to Singapore’s first Olympic-sized ice rink, Jurong East also has a swimming complex to rival that of Sengkang’s
Shopping: Within Jurong East itself, there are three mega-sized malls:
IMM, a five-storey outlet mall with 961,281 square feet of retail space, offices, and storage warehouses
JEM, Singapore’s third-largest suburban mall, with 241 shop units covering 818,000 square feet of retail space across six storeys
Westgate, an integrated retail and office development, comprising a seven-storey lifestyle and family shopping mall and a 20-storey office tower (Westgate Tower)
Nature: Given Jurong’s ample space and its dense population, Jurong East has a glut of parks, nature trails, and outdoor activities. Jurong Lake Gardens itself is deemed Singapore’s new national garden in the heartlands. A people’s garden, spaces are landscaped and designed for families and the community to come together. The whopping 90-hectare space is made up of several gardens like Lakeside Garden, Chinese and Japanese Gardens, and Garden Promenade.
Easties love to hate on the West, but do they have an IKEA nearby? Don’t think so. | Image Source: The Straits Times
Transportation: Jurong East is served by 2 MRT stations, Jurong East and Chinese Garden, with Jurong East MRT being an interchange between the North-South Line and the East-West Line.
Schools: There are three primary schools and four secondary schools in Jurong East, as well as two international colleges — Trinity and BMC.
Healthcare: JurongHealth Campus is an integrated healthcare development with a 700-bed acute hospital, the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and a 400-bed community hospital, Jurong Community Hospital (JCH). Ng Teng Fong is tied to JCH; both hospitals are designed to ensure patient services are seamlessly delivered.
Claim to Fame: Tourist attractions!
The beautiful Chinese Garden was redeveloped
Jurong East boasts three tourist attractions: Science Centre Singapore, Snow City, and Chinese Garden. The Science Centre holds Singapore’s largest collection of educational materials devoted to science. Daily shows, demonstrations, and exhibits are designed to make learning exciting for visitors.
Within the Science Centre is Snow City, Singapore’s first permanent indoor snow centre. A family-centric attraction, Snow City is a huge snow chamber that delivers a wintry experience all year round in a sub-zero environment.
The Chinese Garden, with its gorgeous pseudo-ancient Chinese buildings and seven-storey pagoda, has statues of prominent Chinese historical figures. The adjacent Japanese Garden, which channels all meditative vibes of Zen, is subtler in appearance and connected to the Chinese Garden by the Bridge of Double Beauty. Both recently underwent construction, which introduced new attractions.
4. Serangoon
The relaxed pace of life in this quaint neighbourhood is palpable; its sleepy vibe permeates the streets lined with private condos, HDB apartments, and landed homes.
Lifestyle: The family-friendly Serangoon Gardens Country Club is equipped with an Olympic-sized swimming pool, water play area, gym, and bowling alley. If you need to stretch those leg muscles, the 1,200-seater Serangoon Stadium’s running track is the place for you. For squash or tennis enthusiasts, you can break a sweat at the Burghley Squash and Tennis Centre.
The NEX shopping mall in a Singapore HDB town
Shopping: One of the biggest malls in the North-East region of Singapore, Nex is fully integrated with the Serangoon Bus interchange and the Serangoon Interchange station, and houses a Cold Storage and an NTUC Fairprice Xtra, both of which are open 24 hours. The seven-storey mall offers an eclectic mix of entertainment, retail, lifestyle, and F&B options with over 350 retail lots.
A short ride away from Nex is myVillage at Serangoon Gardens, a petite, high-end mall with a limited number of boutiques, eateries, and a rooftop green space. Sitting among landed properties in Serangoon Gardens, it is a lovely place to unwind and chill over a glass of wine.
In the Yio Chu Kang area, Greenwhich V serves as a retail and lifestyle centre with alfresco and indoor dining spaces. It exudes a laidback charm, nestled amidst greenery. The mall is integrated with The Greenwich residences and caters to the essential needs of residents and office workers in the area.
Nature: While incomparable to the sprawling National Parks of other towns, Serangoon Community Park and Serangoon Sunshine Park still see frequent visitors. There is also the smaller neighbourhood, Tavistock Avenue Park, with the usual playgrounds, walking trails, and fitness stations.
There are plenty of nom-noms at the Chomp Chomp Food Centre to try out if you’re a fan of yum-yums. Ok, we’ll stop.
Transportation: Flaunting a prime location within the Rest of Central Region (RCR), Serangoon MRT is an interchange between the North-East Line and the Circle Line. It is conveniently serviced by various public bus routes. Upper Serangoon Road is an important road, being one of the oldest and busiest roads, linking the North-East region to the CBD.
Schools: Serangoon is a hotspot for parents looking to push their children into elite primary schools. It has a total of five primary schools, four secondary schools, and Nanyang Junior College. Rosyth was a pioneer of the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) and has since maintained its ranking as one of the most sought-after schools in Singapore.
Healthcare: While Serangoon does not have a hospital, there are A&E departments at Farrer Park and Raffles Hospitals that are a 15-minute drive away. The area also has plenty of medical clinics, specialist centres, and healthcare services.
Claim to Fame: Besides sharing the district with the culture-rich Little India, Serangoon is also famous for the Chomp Chomp Food Centre, arguably one of the best hawker centres in Singapore, thanks to its mouth-watering selections of local fare and seafood.
Should You Buy, Sell, or Rent Out Your Property Now?
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